There has been little debate among Great Falls officials on the need to invest considerable money into the city's parks, trails and recreational facilities.

A forward looking master plan completed in 2016 identified $12.6 million in critical repairs needed to maintain Great Falls' 57 parks, four swimming pools, 52 miles of trails and 36,000 trees. That is without any major expansions or enhancements, just what is necessary to keep things operational.

To complete that laundry list of long-delayed repairs over next five years, city officials would be required to ask city voters to approve two things; the creation of a new city-wide taxation district, Park District 1, and to fund it to the tune of $2.27 million annually.

During a special city commission work session held Monday morning, the question turned from what is desirable to what is possible. After nearly two hours of debate, the conclusion was to reduce the taxation request more than a third; dropping funding for the proposed Park District 1 from $2.27 million annually to $1.5 million.

If approved by voters, the reduced funding request would drop the increase in property tax from $34.66 annually to $22.92 on every $100,000 of taxable value within city limits - amounting to less than $2 a month.

"The $1.5 million is the magic number because that is the minimum amount that we believe is necessary to have the most impact on key deferred items," Great Falls City Manager Greg Doyon told city commissioners.

"It will be a good start to what we need to get done," added Park and Recreation Director Steve Herrig. "We will be able to start doing some projects that the public will be able to see out of the gate the first year. At the end of five years we're still not to the end of that deferred list, but if we continue toward working to that - it gives us a start."

Herrig noted that if the city fails to pass some level of funding increase for its parks, the most immediate implications would be the elimination of maintenance on some trails, decreased irrigation of parklands during the summer, the closure of some sports and tennis courts, a continued decline in the quality of picnic shelters and tables, an inability to replace playground equipment and the continued failure of Great Falls to meet federal standards for handicap access to its recreation infrastructure.

By statute, funding for a new park maintenance district can not be used to implement new programming, and according to Doyon, would not be used to address structural repair need at the Morony Natatorium or funding shortfalls within the city's two municipally owned golf courses.

Repair and replacement of the public restrooms at Lions Park are one of the top priorities if voters approve a new Park Maintenance District(Photo: Great Falls Park and Recreation Department)

Year One Project proposals based upon a $1.5 million budget

Lions Park Rest Room rebuild - $200,000

Water Park Bath House Improvements - $300,000

Gibson Park Trail Overlay - $100,000

Jaycee Park Pickleballl and Basketball Courts Overlay - $120,000

Disability Compliant Sidewalks to Playground Equipment - $30,000

Park Irrigation Updates, manual to auto - $220,000

Turf Maintenance - $80,000

Full-time Parks Laborer - $63,000

Multi-sports Complex Dugouts/Backstop - $35,000

Jaycee Park Picnic Pavilion & Tables - $64,000

River's Edge Trail Matching Funds - $10,000

Contingency/Operations/Professional Services - $250,000

The five-member city commission is facing a compressed timeline to present a specific park maintenance district proposal to the public. State law mandates that voting on this form of a city-wide special taxation district to coincide with school elections.

In Great Falls the next school election is on May 8, giving city officials just one more week to schedule a public hearing on any park maintenance district resolution in time to prepare ballots for the May election.

Great Falls Mayor Bob Kelly told city officials at the outset that they needed to reach tentative agreement on the amount and methodology of park maintenance district funding by the end of Monday's special work session if it were to be a success.

"Our goal is to have that intact so that at our next commission meeting (Tuesday, Jan. 16) we can have a public hearing on the matters that are decide here and allow the public to give input," Kelly said. "Time is of the essence base on deadlines going forward."

Not only is the amount of funding in question, the means of assessing tax liability was also debated.

At a commission work session on Jan 2, Herrig presented the possibility of substituting a flat fee for the more familiar taxable value based assessment.

Under that proposal Great Falls's 29 large commercial properties would have been assessed $4,750 annually, standard commercial properties $475 annually, small commercial properties $237, and the city's 19,854 residences would each contribute $20 in a year.

That proposal was dismissed, largely because it would shift a disproportionate share of the tax burden over to businesses and potentially expose the city to claims of unconstitutional discrimination.

"We randomly sampled 32 (of the city's 1,843 standard commercial properties) and there was only one business that would have paid above (using taxable value as opposed to the amount they would have paid using a flat fee assessment.) The rest of them were below, and most of them well below," Herrig said.

"Essentially we would be creating two similarly situated groups, and treating them differently," Assistant Great Falls Attorney Joe Cik explained. "One group (homeowners) ... could be argued to be benefiting more by being in that specific groups than the other would.

"Looking at the numbers, it just seemed like taxable value for $1.5 million would be the most legally sound way to go."

"Staff at this point would recommend the taxable value method at $1.5 million," Herrig concluded.

While the elimination of $770,000 annually from the Park District 1 budget could make its creation more palatable to voters, Commissioner Bill Bronson warned that nothing was guaranteed.

"I would vote for these things in a heartbeat. I'd go for $2.3 million, I see the value," Bronson said, "but I'm not sure that many members of the public shares that view. I just caution you to be prepared for that prospect."

The city will present a formal resolution for the creation of Park District 1 at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Great Falls City Commission on Tuesday, Jan. 16. The meeting will begin at 7 pm in the city commission chambers on the second floor of the Great Falls Civic Center.